DMT On The Brain

Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI - This placebo-controlled multimodal [functional MRI-electroencephalography (fMRI-EEG)] human neuroimaging study offers the most comprehensive view of the acute brain action of psychedelics to date. It assessed N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic that generates immersive altered conscious experience with no diminishment of wakefulness. Global hyperconnectivity, collapsed hierarchical organization and reduced intranetwork integrity, was observed (fMRI) that correlated with decreased alpha power and increased entropy (EEG). Regions with the densest expression of serotonin 2A receptors as determined via independent positron emission tomography (PET) data, were most affected by DMT, and overlapped with regions related to evolved cognitive functions such as language and semantic processing. These results support the notion that psychedelics impact a principal axis of brain organization, and relatedly, the quality of human conscious experience.

Psychedelics have attracted medical interest, but their effects on human brain function are incompletely understood. In a comprehensive, within-subjects, placebo-controlled design, we acquired multimodal neuroimaging [i.e., EEG-fMRI (electroencephalography-functional MRI)] data to assess the effects of intravenous (IV) N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on brain function in 20 healthy volunteers. Simultaneous EEG-fMRI was acquired prior to, during, and after a bolus IV administration of 20 mg DMT, and, separately, placebo. At dosages consistent with the present study, DMT, a serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonist, induces a deeply immersive and radically altered state of consciousness. DMT is thus a useful research tool for probing the neural correlates of conscious experience. Here, fMRI results revealed robust increases in global functional connectivity (GFC), network disintegration and desegregation, and a compression of the principal cortical gradient under DMT. GFC × subjective intensity maps correlated with independent positron emission tomography (PET)-derived 5-HT2AR maps, and both overlapped with meta-analytical data implying human-specific psychological functions. Changes in major EEG-measured neurophysiological properties correlated with specific changes in various fMRI metrics, enriching our understanding of the neural basis of DMT’s effects. The present findings advance on previous work by confirming a predominant action of DMT—and likely other 5-HT2AR agonist psychedelics—on the brain’s transmodal association pole, i.e., the neurodevelopmentally and evolutionarily recent cortex that is associated with species-specific psychological advancements, and high expression of 5-HT2A receptors.

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a classic serotonergic psychedelic drug and useful consciousness probe. Plant-based DMT has likely been used for thousands of years in ceremonial and healing contexts, and, like other psychedelics, synthesized product is now being trialed as part of a drug-plus-psychotherapy combination for treating depression. DMT can induce an intense and immersive altered state of consciousness, characterized by vivid and complex imagery, and a sense of being transported to an alternative reality or dimension, without any diminishment in wakefulness. With sufficiently high doses, descriptions of encounters with sentient 'beings' or 'entities' are common. Such ontologically shocking experiences have been found to correlate with subsequent changes in metaphysical beliefs , and mental health, and formal comparisons have been made between the phenomenology of DMT experiences and near-death experiences and the dream state.

Christopher Timmermann obtained his PhD in 2020, working with Robin Carhart-Harris, Rob Leech and David Nutt in the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. He is currently a post-doc at Imperial College London at the Centre for Psychedelic Research, where he leads the DMT Research Group, studying the mechanisms of action of the potent psychedelics N,N-DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. His empirical and theoretical work employs an interdisciplinary approach to the neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and ethics of psychedelics, their relationship to consciousness and applications in mental health.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/TMuQfnAWTVc


Molecules Under New Light

In his 2001 seminal paper on cold chemistry, Prof. Dalgarno predicted a considerable rate for chemical reaction near zero temperature owing to 'tunneling through the repulsive barrier'. His vision inspired a vibrant development of the field of ultracold molecules and was fully validated when a molecular gas was brought into the quantum regime, where ultracold collisions and chemical reactions were shown to be governed by quantum statistics and long-range interactions. Quantum degerate gas of molecules sets the stage to explore novel dynamics. External electric fields are used to tune elastic interactions, suppress reactive losses, produce sharp collision resonances, and control evaporative cooling. Confining molecules in optical traps with various spatial geometries allows realization of stereo chemistry and construction of tunable many-body spins for quantum magnetism. Hamiltonian engineering is paving the way for production of entangled molecules that will benefit precision measurement.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/njBV4vjaLwQ

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